i was born this way
by halcyon epochs
Summary: lily's waiting for her soulmate, and one day, they crash :: for elizabeth


_For Elizabeth — as requested, Jily soulmate!au. Hope you enjoy it :)_

* * *

When Lily is born, one of her eyes is green and her other eye is hazel.

As an infant, it doesn't bother her. When she starts growing into her own skin, becoming more self-conscious about her appearance, is when her parents finally explain it to her.

_You have a soulmate, _they say. _Everyone does. When you meet your soulmate, your eyes will change to the color you were born with._

So that means she could have either hazel eyes or green eyes. She wants it to be green, because green is the color of shamrocks and new leaves in spring, and more importantly, it's her favorite color.

(Also, she thinks she'll look better with green.)

* * *

When Lily's thirteen, her sister Petunia meets her soulmate and her eyes change. Vernon Dursley has beady, pale brown eyes and a thick black mustache adorning his upper lip. He's hefty, _bulging, _and not in a good way.

Lily doesn't like him — he's nothing like the Prince Charming in the stories Petunia had read to her when they were younger. He's not dashing, he's not polite, he isn't remarkable. He's arrogant, snooty, full of himself, judgemental, disgusting — he takes Lily's chair at the table during his first visit and almost breaks it.

But Petunia is ecstatic, so she tries to be happy for her. Her sister's seventeen, nearing adulthood, more than capable of making her own decisions. And if she likes Vernon, so be it.

* * *

When Lily is sixteen, Petunia and Vernon tie the knot.

It's an extravagant affair — a chocolate fountain, a six-course meal, a five tier cake, a priest from the States — and Vernon doesn't mind. If anything, it bolsters his ego.

Lily's just glad that her sister is receiving the wedding she deserves, but it gives her a little pang of disappointment— Petunia has married her soulmate, and Lily has yet to find hers. Her eyes still look unusual, as compared to most of her friends. Everyone has met their soulmate by now.

Lily hasn't and she begins to wonder.

* * *

When Lily finally meets her soulmate, she's twenty and late for work.

She's cursing herself in her mind — _why had she hit the snooze button? Why hadn't she prepped the night before? — _and preparing herself for an imminent verbal lashing from her boss, because she's so _late — _

Something snags her foot, the coffee in her hand goes flying, and she's bracing herself for a faceplant on cement —

— and meets a faceful of fabric.

"Easy there," someone grunts and Lily's face floods with mortification. Oh, she couldn't get _anything _right today, could she?

She's vaguely aware of hands steadying her, pushing her up gently until she is upright.

"Are you okay?" her savior asks, and it's then Lily looks up and freezes.

He has one hazel eye, one green eye, the exact same shades as her own. She knows this because she's spent countless minutes examining herself in the mirror, so much that she would recognize these eyes anywhere.

She doesn't know what she's expecting. Fireworks? Cheers? A kiss that steals all the air from her lungs, leaving her breathless?

_A kiss?_

Lily's heart leaps into her throat as she watches the transformation take place. His green iris is swallowed up, eclipsed by hazel, and all the breath _does _leave her lungs. It's a mesmerizing sight, she can't wrench her own eyes away from it.

She's vaguely aware that her own eyes are changing — if he has hazel eyes, that must mean — _she has green!_

But Lily doesn't care, because hazel is her new favorite color.

* * *

It turns out being her best day ever. Her boss doesn't fire her, she finally — _finally — _meets her soulmate, and he's even better than she had hoped for. After work, she and him have an impromptu, informal coffee date of sorts, and he's absolutely _wonderful._

"You know, this could work out," she says to him as steam billows out of his coffee cup, fogging over his glasses. "You and me."

He wipes away the condensation on his glasses and puts them back on. "Of course it will," he replies, a smile gracing his lips. Lily finds herself momentarily captivated by his eyes. She'd been staring at that color for years, so she had never really thought of how it would look on her soulmate's face — but it suited him much better, the warmth of his eyes matching the warm color of his skin. It's a heartwarming sight.

Lily smiles in return, leaning back in her chair, and tentatively brushes her foot against his. His eyebrows shoot up, but he doesn't recoil. Lily takes it as a good sign.

Instead, he confesses, "Your eyes are really pretty."

"Thank you." Lily feels heat creeping up her neck but consciously suppresses it. "But I can't take all the credit. See, I ran into this man this morning on my way to work…"

As Lily delves into the story, James's hand jumps up to his hair, ruffling it sheepishly, and his other hand reaches across the table and his fingers lace through her own. Lily's heart does a somersault and it takes all over her self-control to not sing with giddiness.

If James keeps making her feel this way, then the rest should be smooth sailing.

* * *

_889 words_

_Pinata - Hard: Muggle!AU_

_Insane House - 383. Soulmate!AU_


End file.
